Mudanjiang (Mǔdānjiāng 牡丹江) is a prefecture-level city in Heilongjiang (hēi lóng jiāng 黑龙江) province of the People's Republic of China. The administrative seat of the prefecture resides in Mudanjiang City. Its importance derives from its status as a border city, bordering Russia, and location only 248 km from Vladivostok. It serves as a regional communications hub with a railway junction and an international airport connecting with several major Chinese cities as well as Seoul,Korea. In 2007 Mudanjiang had a GDP of RMB 42.1 billion with a 13.3% growth rate.

Qiqihar (Qíqíhāěr 齐齐哈尔) is a major city in the Heilongjiang Province, Northeast China. The municipal area has 1,438,550 inhabitants. These are mainly Han Chinese; there are thirty-four minorities including Manchu, Daur, and Mongolians. Close to Qiqihar are numerous wetlands and the Zhalong (zhā lóng 扎龙) Nature Reserve, famous in China for being home to numerous red-crowned cranes (dān dǐng hè 丹顶鹤).

Harbin (hā ěr bīn 哈尔滨) is a sub-provincial city and the capital of the Heilongjiang (hēi lóng jiāng 黑龙江) Province in Northeast China. It lies on the southern bank of the Songhua River (sōng huā jiāng 松花江). Harbin is ranked as the tenth largest city in China, serving as a key political, economic, scientific, cultural and communications center of Northeastern China.

Harbin is originally a Manchu word meaning "a place for drying fishing nets". Harbin bears the nicknames "The Pearl on the swan's neck" because the shape of Heilongjiang resembles a swan, and "Oriental Moscow" or "Oriental Paris" for the architecture in the city. Harbin is also known as "Ice City" for its long and cold winter. This city is most famous for its beautiful display of ice sculptures in the winter.